Fic: This Is A Time For Believing In Fairytales 3/6

[noxnoctisanima]

Title: This Is A Time For Believing In Fairytales 3/6
Authors: Nox/BJ and Hawkeye/ barefoot_starz

Betas: Danny/Sarah, Onigami/Lorne and Alex/Odysseus

Fandoms: CSI, CSI:Miami, CSI:NY

Series Part: 9/12
Pairing: Adam/Marty
Rating: FRM

Disclaimers: We don’t own them. If we did, this would be canon.

Warnings: Supernatural themes. Some violence. Some language. 

Summary: In an Alternate Universe where Werewolves live amongst humans the Taskforce is assembled to deal with their crimes. 

 

As the door to the apartment opened, Archie looked up from where he’d flopped down onto the couch. Greg ducked his head around the kitchen doorframe, smiling at Nick as the Texan dropped his keys on the hallstand and trudged into the lounge, flopping down next to Archie. He let his head loll onto the back of the couch and allowed his eyes to fall shut. Greg snorted at them both as he walked back into the lounge carrying three cups of Blue Hawaiian coffee. Archie rolled his head down to look at Greg and Nick cracked open one eye.

 

“You are a valued member of the pack, Greg,” Archie sighed happily as he took a mug from him.

 

“Thanks, Greggo,” Nick murmured gratefully, taking another mug.

 

Greg kept the remaining mug for himself and dropped down into the armchair next to the couch containing his two packmates. Archie and Nick drank their coffee in companionable silence. Greg resisted the urge to fidget slightly in his armchair. He let the silence stretch out for a while until he simply couldn’t take it anymore.

 

“Can we finish the conversation now?” he asked, “Or do I have to sit here and wait for you to meditate some more?”

 

Archie snorted as Nick looked confused, “Greg and I started a conversation about Ryan while you were at the crime scene today. He wants to finish it. Plus, it’s been brought to my attention that I need to ask you about Sheldon…?” he raised an eyebrow questioningly, biting back a smile as Nick turned crimson, Greg was right, it was funny.

 

Fighting the blush that crawled up his face at the mention of Sheldon’s name, Nick turned back to his packmates, “Well, y’all started without me. Mind catchin’ me up?”

 

Greg waited for a nod from Archie before continuing, “Okay… so Ryan came into the AV lab for results. Arch was fidgety anyway after the whole thing in the boardroom. Then Ryan comes in and leans over his shoulder and drapes himself on Arch,” Greg nodded as Nick winced, “Yeah… I was about ready to… alright, Arch!” he shot an exasperated look at his alpha as he started growling again, “You get the picture.”

 

Nick nodded, keeping his head down at Archie’s growl, “Doin’ it on purpose, d’ya think?”

 

Greg shook his head, “Not a chance. I was watching from DNA. Miami-boy didn’t even know his eyes had gone wolf,” Nick raised an eyebrow, “Exactly. So he wouldn’t have known what was going on with fearless leader over there.”

 

Archie cut in before Greg could get too enthused with the topic, “And that’s as far as we got into the conversation, Nick,” he sighed, “Ryan… he… well, he’s clueless, for lack of a better term.”

 

Nick looked at his alpha through his eyelashes, the gesture flirtatious on anyone else, but on him, merely respectful, “I know. You could see the confusion in him a whole heap of times at the crime scene today. He didn’t know anythin’ about packs or the way they worked. He made some of the shifter signs,” Nick flicked his hands, gesturing claws, “But had no idea why he made them.”

 

Archie cocked his head to the side in a gesture reminiscent of a curious dog, “Really? So everything he’s doing… it’s just instinct? Huh…” he let his head rest in his hands, lost in thought.

 

Greg sighed softly in fond exasperation, “Concentrate, Archie…” he barely resisted the urge to wave his hand in front of Archie’s face, “If he’s acting purely on instinct, then that means no one has taught him anything. I mean, nothing,” Greg’s eyes were wide and earnest as he spoke, “Not pack manners. Not mates. Nothing. I’m willing to bet he can’t even shift on his own.”

 

Greg’s suspicions were confirmed the next day when he was sitting in NYPD’s DNA lab, drumming on the desk with a pair of pens while he waited for the printer to spit out his results. He was humming, spinning in his chair, and so, missed the first knock on the door. It wasn’t until the soft clearing of a throat and a second knock caught his attention that he turned and saw Ryan leaning against the doorframe.

 

“Hey, Ryan…” Greg shot him a grin, not looking at all embarrassed to have been busted.

 

Ryan raised an eyebrow, but smiled back, coming into the DNA lab, “Um… Greg… can I ask a favour?”

 

“Sure, go nuts…” the wild-haired man looked up at the Floridian from his chair, “What’s on your mind?”

 

Ryan fidgeted on his feet for a moment, before Greg gestured grandly to a chair, which he dropped into gratefully, “Well… in Miami… I… well…”

 

“Ah… I think I know where this is going…” Greg cut in, “You had no-one. Well,” he amended at Ryan’s answering frown, “No-one like us, anyway…”

 

Ryan nodded, casting his eyes down, prompting Greg to continue, “And… lemme guess… you want answers?”

 

Ryan nodded again, “Like you wouldn’t believe,” he said with a sigh.

 

Greg spun once in his chair, then propped his feet up on the table by the printer, “Then fire away. I’m all ears.”

 

Ryan paused for a moment, sorting his thoughts, “Okay… okay… um…” he raised his hands and flicked them in what Greg recognised as a shifter sign, “What the hell does that mean?”

 

Greg looked at him curiously, “Where did you learn that?”

 

Ryan shrugged helplessly, “Honestly? I have no idea. I did it at the crime scene. It seemed like a good idea at the time. And it seemed to make sense to Nick. It just…” he trailed off.

 

Greg gave him a sympathetic smile, “…felt right?” then when Ryan nodded, he elaborated, “That’s one of the small gestures referred to as a ‘shifter sign’. That particular one means that it’s ok to shift here, or you should shift now. You just gotta work out the context.”

 

Ryan nodded slowly, taking this in, “Right… that makes sense…” he stayed quiet for a moment, “Um… packs?”

 

Greg nodded, “What about them?”

 

Ryan gave him a wry look, “Everything?”

 

Greg snorted, “Right then. Get comfortable. Packs are groups of two or more werewolves, with one werewolf acknowledged as an alpha. For us, that’s Archie. But, a pack can ~not~ be just a mated pair. So, Adam and Marty aren’t a pack. With me so far?”

 

Ryan nodded, “Two or more. One alpha. Not just a mated pair. Got it.”

 

Greg nodded too, “Cool. Now, I’m guessing you may have noticed slight changes in your personality since you were turned?” he resisted the urge to snicker as Ryan grimaced, “Yeah, I thought so.”

 

Ryan stubbornly fought the urge to drop his eyes as Greg looked at him curiously, “Can I be incredibly rude and ask what they are? It’ll help me explain this to you better.”

 

Ryan grumbled under his breath and this time gave in to the urge to drop his eyes, “This is so embarrassing,” he muttered, before listing, “Before all this, I was practically a vegetarian. I only ate red meat when there was no other choice, chicken only sometimes, fish occasionally. Now, medium-rare steak seems to be my staple diet,” his nose wrinkled slightly in distaste, “I don’t like it.”

 

Greg raised an eyebrow, “Get used to it. You ever heard of a vegan predator?”

 

Ryan sighed, shook his head and continued, “Then there’s the people thing. Before I was turned, I liked solitude. When I worked patrol, I used to try and swap shifts so I could get the solo beats. Then when I was a CSI I worked my butt off to try and get solo cases as quick as possible. I used to ~like~ being by myself. Now, I can’t handle it. I have to leave the TV on in my apartment all night otherwise I freak out.”

 

Greg shot him a sympathetic look, “I can talk to Nick and Arch… we have a spare room…” he offered.

 

Ryan shook his head, “It’s fine. Having the TV on works,” his eyes dropped again, and Greg recoiled slightly as he growled and forced them back up, “There! That’s another thing! Why, why, why… do I feel the need to drop my eyes or bow my head… hell, I even want to bare my throat sometimes… to other werewolves? I am not a freakin’ sub!”

 

Greg looked at him calmly, “Sorry to break it to you, buddy… but yeah, you are…”

 

Ryan’s head shot up and he scowled at the other man, “The hell?! What would you know about it?! You don’t even know m…” the last word trailed off mid-way through as Greg looked at him calmly, eyes cool, and raised an eyebrow.

 

The only thing going through Ryan’s mind at that point in time was a steady litany of ‘uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh’. His eyes went wide, slowly bleeding into yellow. His shoulders hunched abruptly as his wolf-self simply dropped, ears laid back, belly flattened to the ground. A soft whining noise that he was dimly aware was coming from him, filled his ears. He dropped both his eyes and his head, tilting his head sideways to clumsily bare his throat.

 

Greg sighed as he looked down at Ryan. He hadn’t wanted to do that. Archie was probably going to kick his ass for doing that, but until Ryan learned and accepted what he was, everything he was, then this little lesson was going nowhere. Ryan blinked as he felt a hand on his shoulder and slowly turned his head back to Greg, looking through his lashes at the other man’s now soft brown eyes. Greg gave him a small smile.

 

“Sorry about that,” he said, keeping his voice low and gentle, a sub’s voice, “But do you see what I mean?”

 

Ryan nodded, heaving a sigh, “So… am I ever gonna be able to look anyone in the eye again?” he said, a defeated tone in his voice.

 

Greg frowned slightly, “Hey… it’s not a death sentence… Nick’s a sub… Marty’s a sub… I’m… kinda a sub…” he shrugged, “It just means that around dominant members of the pack, you’ll be a little…” he gestured to Ryan’s submissive posture.

 

Ryan frowned slightly at that, “Am I pack?” he asked, surprised.

 

Greg looked just as surprised, “You thought we’d left you out?”

 

Ryan shrugged, “I didn’t know…” he grinned wryly, “Just another of the many things I didn’t know.”

 

Greg snorted, “Well… you are pack… all the Taskforce is one pack now. Even Adam and Marty.”

 

Ryan nodded, smiling shyly, “Thanks, Greg,” his smile was replaced with a slight frown, “Oh! That reminds me… another question I have, if you don’t mind?” he glanced askance at the other man.

 

Greg shrugged, “Go right ahead, I was raised with all this,” he gestured grandly.

 

“Mates,” Ryan said abruptly, face turning a dull red.

 

Greg stubbornly bit back a laugh, “What do you want to know?”

 

Ryan shot him a look and Greg snorted, “Right, right, everything.”

 

Greg took a deep breath, “Okay… some things werewolves do are leftover from the pack mentality. Mating for life is one of them,” Greg stoically didn’t mention Archie.

 

Ryan nodded, “Makes sense… So… Adam and Marty?” at Greg’s questioning look, he elaborated, “They’re a mated pair, but Adam’s more new turned than I am. How does that work?”

 

Greg smiled sardonically, “I’m really not the person to ask about that.”

 

Ryan looked pleadingly at him, but Greg held firm… barely, “Sorry, Ryan… I’m really not the person to ask. Adam and Marty are the only mated pair in this little pack. Adam might turn a few shades of red, but Marty won’t mind answering your questions.”

 

The printer saved Greg from Ryan’s pleading puppy eyes. Puppy eyes that he had spontaneously decided could give even Nick’s a run for their money. It must be a sub thing, he mused. He took his feet off the desk and spun back to the printer. Greg impatiently tapped on the printer’s casing as though hitting the technology would make it work faster. Ryan looked at him for a moment, before sighing, realising that he would not get anymore answers from the wild-haired man.

 

“Thanks, Greg. I owe you one,” he said as he stood up.

 

Greg spun back around, results clutched in his hand, “No worries, anything else you need just holler. Me or Nick or Archie will be around.”

 

Ryan waved over his shoulder as he headed out, mumbling to himself, “Okay… suck it up, Ryan. Go ask the nice werewolves about their sex lives,” he snorted.

 

Greg caught the mumbled answer and snickered, glancing over to the AV lab. What he saw made him laugh out loud, clapping his hand over his mouth to muffle it. Archie was leaning back in his chair as Ryan walked down the hall, blatantly ogling the other man. When Archie heard the first bark of laughter, he started, looking around almost wildly, before catching sight of Greg. His eyes narrowed, even as he blushed furiously. Greg, still laughing, picked up a marker and wrote ‘busted’ in big block letters on his whiteboard.

 

Ryan missed the entire exchange as he walked down the hall, too focused on finding Adam and Marty. He tried Adam’s tech lab. No luck. He was just about to head down to the morgue, a place he really didn’t want to have this particular conversation, when he heard voices in the breakroom. Resisting the urge to cross his fingers, Ryan ducked his head into the breakroom, almost sighing in relief as he spotted the two werewolves he was looking for. He carefully sidled into the room, giving into the urge to sigh as his instincts told him to drop his eyes. He sighed again, and simply stopped fighting, dropping his eyes to the floor, looking up through his lashes at the two.

 

Marty shot him a small smile, keeping his own head down, “Hey, Ryan.”

 

Adam gave him a grin, “Hey, what’s up?” he gestured to a chair.

 

Ryan sank into it, “Actually,” he said, cursing the blush that spread up his neck, “I… uh…”

 

Marty dropped his head even lower to hide his smirk, while Adam looked at him curiously, “Yeah…?”

 

Marty leaned over and murmured something in Adam’s ear. Ryan looked at the other werewolf through his lashes. Adam’s eyes widened. Then his jaw dropped. Then he turned bright red. Then he bit back a laugh. Then he turned even redder. Ryan watched as Marty shook with silent laughter for a moment, before it all came bursting out of him. His own blush grew more pronounced and he half rose in his chair, prepared to leave, as the ME laughed.

 

Adam darted a hand out, grabbing his wrist, “No… wait… Marty’s just being an ass.”

 

Marty grinned at Adam, dropping his eyes again, then turned to Ryan, “Sorry, I wasn’t laughing at you… I was laughing at Adam.”

 

Ryan eased himself back into the chair, still looking up at Adam, who spoke again, “My mate here,” he shot a glance at the still-smirking Marty, “Tells me that you want…” the blush crept up his neck again, “… information… about mates and stuff like that.”

 

Ryan nodded, his own blush making itself known, “If it’s not too much trouble.”

 

Marty snickered again, “You two are like blushing virgins. Ask away, Ryan. If Adam is blushing too hard, then I’ll take over.”

 

Ryan shook his head, “I just… how? I don’t know… well… anything.”

 

Adam gave the still-smirking Marty an evil grin, which made Ryan frown in confusion and Marty’s smirk instantly fade, “Oh no… Adam… dearheart… please…”

 

Ryan’s confusion only grew until Adam started explaining what had happened between the two of them. Ryan’s confusion went away and was replaced by amusement. He bit back a smirk, then gave up and allowed the full-blown grin to cross his face. Then Ryan began to snicker helplessly as Adam finished with an imitation of Marty, completely high as a kite.

 

As his giggles died away, he took a breath to steady himself and asked, “Why, though? Why such a dramatic reaction?”

 

Adam frowned slightly, “I… really don’t know. Marty?”

 

Marty lifted his head slightly, a blush colouring his cheeks this time, “Endorphins. That’s the only reason for it. You find your mate; it’s like getting beaten across the head with a endorphin hammer,” the blush grew a little more pronounced, “And… in the submissive of the pair… when you actually do something about it… you get a massive endorphin release. So, you end up high as kite for an hour or so, then you sleep it off.”

 

Ryan nodded, “Gotcha… I’m actually surprised I didn’t think of that. I majored in molecular biol…” he trailed off mid-word, paling abruptly.

 

Marty frowned, Adam mirroring his expression, “Ryan?” the redhead asked, “You okay?”

 

“Oh my God,” he whispered, turning wide eyes back to the mated pair, “Archie…”

 

Ryan was halfway to the door before Marty caught up with him, “No, wait… Ryan!”

 

Ryan turned to look at him, “But…”

 

Marty sat him back down, “What were you going to do when you got there? Declare your undying love? Rip your clothes off and beg him to jump you?”

 

Adam blanched, “Marty…”

 

Marty shook his head, standing up to his mate for what Adam thought was the first time, “No, Adam, he needs to hear this.”

 

Ryan just stared at the ME, before dropping his head forlornly. His wolf-self let out a mournful howl. He had to fight hard to stop the soft whimpers that were rising up in his chest. He shook himself like a wet dog would. Marty was right, what was he thinking? He had no real plan, no real concept of what to say to Archie. Going off half-assed was just going to result in disaster.

 

He took a steadying breath and looked at Marty, “I’m listening.”

 

Marty nodded approvingly, before leaning over and reaching for Adam’s hand, “Now… as happy as Adam and I are… we ~were~ kinda thrown together. Adam had only been turned four days before it happened. It was his first day back at work,” Marty squeezed the hand he held reassuringly as Adam fidgeted in his seat, “Quite frankly, Ryan… I am damn lucky Adam didn’t just freak out, dump me on my ass in the middle of the locker room and run out screaming like a girl.”

 

Adam raised an eyebrow, “Hey…”

 

Marty looked back at him, “Well, I am…” before turning back to Ryan, “Despite what you may think, despite what your wolf is screaming right now, you actually have an advantage. You can get to know him,” his voice turned wry, “You can make sure you’re not at work when the endorphin high hits you.”

 

Ryan blushed and nodded, imagining himself drugged out on his own hormones in front of these people he barely knew. But still he felt drawn to Archie, a feeling that both scared the crap out of him and filled him with a wonderfully warm sense of purposefulness.  

 

He mumbled his thanks to Marty who was still watching him cautiously and left the room. 

 

His mind didn’t know how to deal with this new information, his conscious mind was freaking out but his wolf self was all but doing back flips.

 

He didn’t consciously walk to the AV Lab but, none the less he found himself outside, head tilted a little as Archie moved around the Lab oblivious. 

 

Ryan watched as Archie controlled the AV Lab with ease. The slender Asian moved with a calm, confident air that he could never hope to replicate. He was damn fine too. He frowned as the wolf part of him added that little snippet of information and tried hard to ignore it. He waited for his AV results patiently, occasionally glancing over at one of the screens. Archie got to his feet from where he’d been sitting at one of the terminals and walked over to the printer. Ryan’s eyes unwittingly drifted down to the jean clad ass that swayed invitingly… Stop! Stop right there!

 

Ryan’s scowl grew deeper. Lately he couldn’t help it, every time he was in the same room as the other man he could do nothing but ogle him. It was ridiculous. And if he spent more than ten minutes with him, he ended up wanting to jump him. No, he amended, that wasn’t quite right. He ended up wanting to be jumped ~by~ him. Ryan scowled again, barely hearing Archie as he took his results and hurried out of the lab, surreptitiously adjusting himself through his pants as he left.

 

That settled it… His wolf-self was a whore…

 

Ryan was standing the hallway trying to calm his body down when Greg came sliding down the hallway singing his own praises and waving a printout. He stopped with a skid in front of Ryan and grinned at him before handing over the paper.

 

“I am excellent.” He announced as Ryan eagerly scanned the report.

 

“Patricia Cromer, priors for B & E and assault.” His face fell. “And no known address.” 

 

Greg snatched the report back and scowled at it, as if demanding it change.

 

Sheldon’s voice broke into Greg’s scowl.

 

“You’re excellent?”

 

“Not as excellent as he thinks he is... DNA and a name, but no known address.” Ryan said with a grumble.

 

Greg handed the printout to Sheldon who scowled at it in much the same way as Greg had.

 

Sheldon pulled out his phone.

 

“I’ll call Flack see if he can find us anything.” Sheldon sounded a little defeated.

 

Adam had come up behind the CSI’s as they were discussing the results. He thrust his arm into the circle of men holding a printout.

 

“Greg may not be but I however, am excellent.” He wiggled the paper a little as they turned to look at him. “I have trace.”

 

Sheldon grabbed the paper and scanned it, mumbling to himself, Adam turned to the others.

 

“Algae specific to the Hudson and boat fuel, they were at the docks.” He explained. “I’d guess it’s their base.”

 

There was a flurry of cell phones as Sheldon called Flack and Ryan dialled Mac’s unfamiliar number.

 

It moved so fast and it seemed like only moments later when Ryan was standing next to Nick and Greg and Sheldon was helping him strap a flack vest to his chest.